Sima Qian
Han dynasty Grand Historian, author of the Shiji
- Born
- c. 145 BCE, Longmen (near modern Hancheng, Shaanxi)
- Died
- c. 87 BCE
- Office
- Grand Historian (Taishi) at the Han court
- Work
- Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian)
- Father
- Sima Tan
The Han court historian whose Shiji is the main source for early Chinese history, from the sage kings to the First Emperor's meteorite.
What is Sima Qian known for?
Sima Qian was a Chinese historian and astronomer at the court of Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty. He succeeded his father, Sima Tan, as Grand Historian and completed the Shiji, or Records of the Grand Historian, a history of China from the legendary Yellow Emperor to his own time.
In about 99 BCE he defended the general Li Ling, who had surrendered to the Xiongnu, and was punished with castration. He chose this over suicide so that he could finish his history. The Shiji, in 130 chapters, became the model for later Chinese official histories.
The Shiji is the main written source for the sage kings Yao and Shun, the Xia and Shang dynasties, and the life of the First Emperor, including the 211 BCE meteorite inscribed with a prophecy of his death. For the earliest periods Sima Qian drew on older documents and traditions that historians treat as legendary.
His Shiji is the source the site cites for the meteorite that predicted the First Emperor's death.
Mentioned on these pages
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, 'Sima Qian'Reference
- Wikipedia, 'Sima Qian'Reference
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